Posted by Gunna‘s eagerly anticipated DS4 album — the fourth and final installment in his Drip Season series — is set to arrive on Friday (January 7), and judging by a recent teaser, it’ll feature at least one collaboration with Future and Young Thug.
However, there’s another, more surprising artist who appears to have influenced the forthcoming project. On Tuesday (January 4), Gunna took to social media to unveil the official cover art for DS4, which features an all-white 3D mold of the Atlanta rapper/crooner, complete with shades and his familiar snake-themed “Gunna” chain.
“DS4 EVER The Fourth And Final Installment 1/7,” he wrote along with the striking artwork, which was designed by contemporary artist Daniel Arsham.
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While Gunna’s DS4 cover art certainly catches the eye, some fans were quick to point out a possible inspiration behind the design: Kanye West‘s Complex magazine cover from 2009.
As pointed out by former Complex editor Brendan Frederick, the DS4 cover closely resembles Kanye’s April/May ’09 cover shoot, which was photographed by Chris Milk. “Both images use a 3D scanning technique to produce a CG model of the artist,” he wrote.
Gunna, 2022
Kanye, 2009 pic.twitter.com/OVu6nv0Ryx— Brendan Frederick (@bfred) January 4, 2022
First image is the cover of Gunna’s upcoming album Drip Season 4, photographed by Daniel Arsham
Second image is from Kanye’s April/May 2009 Complex cover story, photographed by Chris Milk
Both images use a 3D scanning technique to produce a CG model of the artist pic.twitter.com/6eAdIUinWd
— Brendan Frederick (@bfred) January 4, 2022
Kanye West, who was fresh off the release of 808s & Heartbreak at the time, had high praise for the magazine cover. “This cover is equally as good as ‘Heartless’ was and equally as good as Glow In the Dark [tour] was,” he said in a behind-the-scenes video. “I’m just trying to present really great product after product after product.”
Interestingly, Kanye shared Complex‘s April/May 2009 cover star duties with Kim Kardashian, several years before they became a (soon-to-be-divorced) couple.
Usher’s Hard II Love, Nas’ The Lost Tapes 2 and Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats’ Unlocked 1.5 — whose covers also employed similar decaying 3D designs — were also mentioned as possible inspirations behind DS4‘s artwork. Coincidentally, Arsham designed the latter two.
gunnaの新しいのがusherのアルバムにめっちゃ似てる pic.twitter.com/MFuwQsDlP1
— れおぽるど (@Leofitz_Haiz) January 5, 2022
Gunna’s ‘DS4’ album cover was made by artist Daniel Arsham who also created the artwork for Unlocked 1.5 , The Lost Tapes 2 and The House Of Balloons anniversary edition.
This style of artwork is so unique and amazing to me ? pic.twitter.com/5gU3dVpx09
— Hip Hop All Day (@HipHopAllDayy) January 4, 2022
DS4 serves as the follow-up to 2018’s Drip Season 3 and marks Gunna’s first album since 2020’s Wunna, which saw the Atlanta native top the Billboard 200 for the first time.
While a tracklist and guest features have yet to be revealed, Gunna has issued two potential singles so far: “9 Times Outta 10” featuring Taurus and the Future-assisted, Wheezy-produced “Too Easy,” which spawned a remix featuring Roddy Ricch.
Gunna Announces ‘DS4’ Release Date & Previews Future + Young Thug Collaboration
Lil Baby, who may well appear on the album considering his collaborative history with Gunna, was treated to an early listen of DS4 on Tuesday (January 4) and excitedly shared his reaction on Twitter.
“Gunna played me his album. [He] ain’t bullshittin,” he wrote along with several exploding head and fire emojis.
Gunna played me his album ??????????? ?️ ain’t bullshittin ??
— Lil Baby (@lilbaby4PF) January 4, 2022